Brief description of the National Centre for AIDS Prevention 
of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia

The National Centre for AIDS Prevention (NCAP) of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia (RA) was established in November 1989. Since 1997 the NCAP activity has been sanctioned by the RA Law on “Prevention of Disease caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus”. The NCAP is the principle implementer and coordinator of HIV/AIDS prevention activities in the Republic of Armenia.
		Samvel Grigoryan, MD, PhD, DSc, professor Director of the National AIDS Center

Interrelations between the NCAP and other organizations

During 20 years of its existence the NCAP has achieved significant success on HIV/AIDS prevention, in raising awareness on HIV/AIDS and forming safer sexual behavior among general population of the country. That was mainly promoted by work of highly qualified and experienced specialists of the Centre.

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The NCAP Structure

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General tasks of the Center:

• implementing HIV/AIDS epidemiological surveillance, researching and analyzing their evaluation tendencies
• making HIV final diagnosis, AIDS clinical and laboratory diagnosis in the RA, carrying out folow up of HIV-infected people and patients with AIDS 
  providing antiretroviral treatment to HIV/AIDS patients, as well as prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections; providing HIV/AIDS patients with specialized medical care (stomatologic, dermatovenereologic, gynecologic)
• developing information/education materials on HIV/AIDS and AIDS-associated diseases prevention
• participating in exercising control over the activities carried out by the health care institutions (state and private), licensed by the legislation currently in force in the RA, making laboratory analysis for HIV
• training personnel on HIV/AIDS prevention and diagnostics
• providing psychosocial and legal counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS and their family members  
• organizing and carrying out lectures, seminars and trainings on current issues of HIV/AIDS
• organizing and carrying out information/education activities on HIV/AIDS prevention, forming safer sexual behavior among HIV vulnerable groups  
  organizing national and international conferences, seminars, trainings, discussions on HIV/AIDS and AIDS-associated diseases and participating in these activities
• conducting scientific and practical research on HIV/AIDS prevention and AIDS-associated diseases
• sharing information on HIV/AIDS prevalence according to the international agreements of RA
• active participating in the Country Coordination Commission on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Issues of the Republic of Armenia (CCM) activities, supervising and coordinating CCM Secretariat work
• collaborating with other international organizations and NGOs functioning in the field of HIV/AIDS.

Main directions of activities conducted by the NCAP

Information/education activities 

Giving priority to information/education activities the NCAP by support of other organizations and in collaboration with them regularly develops, publishes and distributes different information/education materials, booklets and calendars among HIV vulnerable population groups, general population, youth as well as blood donors.

The NCAP periodically carries out activities on HIV/AIDS prevention, forming safer behavior, raising awareness on HIV/AIDS issues among the population groups at high risk of HIV infection and youth.

The NCAP organizes and gives lectures, conducts seminars and trainings on current issues of HIV/AIDS among different specialists and population groups.

Training personnel

The NCAP carries out large-scale activities on training the specialists on HIV/AIDS prevention and laboratory diagnostics. For that purpose training-seminars are conducted regularly for various specialists in Yerevan city and RA Marzes.

In particular, during 2004-2005 training-seminars were held for health care policy-makers, medical laboratory specialists performing HIV tests, penitentiary institutions and the police staff, preventive programme implementers among HIV vulnerable groups and they were provided with information/education materials, guidelines and books developed by the NCAP. Also training-seminars were held for youth, injecting drug users, commercial sex workers, men who have sex with men in order to prepare specialists for providing peer education and outreach work, care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS, hot line specialists providing counseling.

During 2004-2005 a number of training-seminars were conducted for community workers, Church representatives, journalists, NGOs implementing various programmes related HIV/AIDS field, monitoring and evaluation specialists, specialists providing VCT.

Scientific-research activities

The NCAP implements not only practical, but also scientific activities. Research articles and abstracts of the Center personnel were published in the local and international scientific handbooks, and were presented at the world and European conferences.

Regularly biological and behavioural surveys are carried out among different population groups to assess HIV prevalence and level of awareness on HIV/AIDS as well as to reveal behaviours driving HIV epidemic.

Counseling providing

Every person applied to the NCAP for HIV testing is provided with pre- and post-test counseling.

People living with HIV/AIDS and their family members are provided with psychosocial and legal counseling in the NCAP regarding their rights and duties.

Since 2002 the NCAP has provided hot line services for HIV vulnerable population groups and general population. Each person who has questions on AIDS, safer sexual behaviour, and drug use or needs an advice may call at
61-08-20 ask his/her questions without anonymously and receive relevant information and counselling.

Laboratory diagnostics

The NCAP provides HIV final diagnostics.

Department of laboratory diagnostics, where different immunologic, virologic, biochemical and clinical tests are performed, is fitted up with up-to-date equipment.

Viral load testing is conducted by PCR method. DNA diagnostics of various infections is made.

Medical care

Since February 2005 in the frame of the National Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria the NCAP has provided free of charge antiretroviral treatment to the people living with HIV/AIDS, drug prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, as well as prevention and treatment for opportunistic infections. The NCAP also provides post exposure prophylaxis to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection after potential exposure at work places. 
HIV/AIDS patients have been also provided with specialized medical care (stomatologic, dermatovenereologic, gynecologic).

The Centre also provides medical care to general population.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 
support to the NCAP and laboratories performing HIV tests

In 2003 the Global Fund to Figth AIDS, TB and Malaria approved the Project Proposal “Support to the National Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Republic of Armenia” for 5 years presented by the CCM.

In 2005 the new infrastructure of the NCAP was created by the Global Fund support at 2 Acharyan Street, Yerevan, Armenia – building provided by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
With the GFATM support the NCAP was provided with the up-to-date laboratory and medical equipment, which gives
opportunity to perform various tests and provide high quality specialized care and diagnosis to PLHIV and representatives of vulnerable populations. The NCAP medical staff operating the laboratory and medical equipment has been provided with relevant training in the frames of the GFATM-supported National Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention. The Training Center has been created in the frames of the same Programme, where training-seminars on HIV/AIDS for specialists working in various fields are held.

Since 2005 by support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria people living with HIV/AIDS has been provided antiretroviral treatment, prevention and treatment for opportunistic infections, HIV transmission drug prevention from mother to child.

With the GFATM support new infrastructures have been created also on the basis of the Blood Transfusion Center named after Professor R. Yolyan, laboratories performing HIV testing in 9 Marzes of the country. The laboratory infrastructures creation activities have been implemented by the Principal Recipient of the GFATM-supported National Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention – “World Vision-Armenia” organization and the UNDP.

Also high quality test-kits are procured in the frames of the GFATM-supported National Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention, which are delivered to the NCAP, as well as to laboratories performing HIV screening of donated blood and conducting HIV tests for those applied to VCT sites.